CHAPTER 681: RETURN TO THE ARENA: VS. FACELESS BLADE

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The trip to the Profound Heaven Realm was a particularly interesting one for Cedric; however, the feeling didn’t stay for long; it faded as soon as the cruise left the place and was back on the move again.

Sure, an unlucky mortal possessing immense willpower that could render at least 70% of the life evolvers pale in comparison might be a rare sight, but it didn’t move him that much. Besides, too much power without proper knowledge and control was just poison. Cedric left it alone since he didn’t want it to be his problem; it could stay in the council’s hands.

Returning to his residence, Cedric was back at it again in the arena matches since it’s practically the only thing that’s keeping him interested in the virtual world. Sure, there are other things he could be doing; he just didn’t feel like it at the moment.

He didn’t go for a match right away. Instead, he was on the lookout for any ranker match he could spectate. Alas, it seems that it wasn’t his lucky day today because even after three hours of waiting, none of them went online.

And so, he queued up for a match himself to get some action.

As always, the matchmaking was swift. Barely a second passed since he queued up, and he’s already found an opponent. After a five-second countdown, his avatar was transported to their designated battlefield.

Cedric found himself standing in the middle of a scenic battlefield.

He was surrounded with flowers, ones that filled his nose with a lasting and lovely smell. And just to elevate the scenery even more, it was nighttimein this realm; a bright silver moon hung in the sky, illuminating the battlefield with a gentle and serene radiance.

His opponent this time appears to be a gentleman. One that wore long white robes, billowing behind him as the wind blew against his face. He had a long white hair, was barefooted, and wore a blank skin mask that made it look like he didn’t have any facial features—no eyes, nose, mouth, or even ears, just skin.

It was weird, but Cedric didn’t say anything since it wasn’t the weirdest thing he saw. He just accounted it to personal taste.

He did notice, though, that his opponent must be a swordsman too, a dual one at that. Evident with the two swords he’s holding. One was silver, and one was dark purple.

The opponent didn’t move. He just stood still there like a statue. He was breathing, yes, and he was alive, yes, but his behavior sure was unnerving. But again, it wasn’t all that surprising to Cedric.

’Faceless Blade, huh? Surely this must be an online persona. No Immortal would actually choose to not have a face.’

The codename of his opponent this time was Faceless Blade, which was quite fitting to his whole appearance. He’s also quite sure that this was just an online persona, though. He couldn’t imagine anybody actually preferring not to have a face. Even if it was an inborn deficiency or caused by an accident, upon reaching the Immortal Level, those could be rewritten or healed, and if a choice like that was available, it’s quite hard to imagine someone not choosing that.

But that’s enough curiosity towards his opponent. The countdown was gone, and the battle has already started.

Clang!

Faceless Blade wasted no time. As soon as the match began, he dashed towards Cedric, bridging the short distance between them in the blink of an eye. Both swords were drawn and swung overhead in attempts to cleave Cedric into three.

Cedric wasn’t even remotely surprised. He lifted his sword to block the attack and came face-to-face with his enemy, except his enemy doesn’t have a face, literally, so does this even count?

Anyway...

’Purity and Void? My, what a rare combination!’

Being this close to his opponent and seeing the glow of those swords allowed Cedric to sense their properties and elements. The silver sword emitted the element of purity, while the dark purple sword was radiating the void element.

Purity and Void were contradicting elements standing at the extreme opposite spectrums. They usually clash and struggle when they meet because it’s in their nature to do so. Thus, seeing them being wielded by the same person without raising a fuss was rather surprising.

Exerting a little bit of his strength, he pushed back the faceless and realized something.

’Oh! The swords must be twins, then. Specifically created to be together. That’s one of the most effective ways for both elements to behave and work together. Smart.’

And Cedric was confident that his assumptions were correct, especially since the swords had similar designs. He even saw a blacksmith’s mark on both of them, which looked the same, indicating that they’re made by the same person.

Forcing the faceless back wasn’t enough to deter him. In fact, the faceless charged back as fast as he was pushed. This time, he performed a deadly and mesmerizing dance with his swords, slicing and hacking away at Cedric.

’Ooh, a sword art! Lucky! ’ Cedric whistled inwardly.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Steels clashed, emitting a crisp sound and lighting up sparks that created a sharp contrast to the scenic environment.

Faceless Blade’s sword dance sure was beautiful and deadly, but he seemed to have met a machine that’s reading and responding to every move he made in an instant because none of his swords even managed to touch the hem of Cedric’s clothes.

The sword art was as fast and as deadly as it was beautiful. It’s a killing technique disguised as a work of art. And while the concept wasn’t new in the slightest, only a handful could truly fit that description; most are just poor and terrible attempts. This one was genuine killing art, one that really impressed Cedric.

As expected of humans of the Primitive Universe...

That said, if this is all the Faceless Blade has, then it’s far from enough to defeat Cedric. Because while this sword art was as beautiful as it was deadly, if it couldn’t touch him, it couldn’t kill him.

But Cedric knows this too well...that this was all just probing moves, so far. The Faceless Blade was testing his mettle with this; there’s absolutely no way that he’s already going all out. The true might of his swords hasn’t been unleashed yet, so how can that be?

And this assumption was right. The Faceless Blade indeed hasn’t revealed the full extent of his capabilities yet. Because in the following moment, he began unleashing his true strength.

The elements of Purity and Void flared into life, originating from his swords. Cedric heard the crisp sounds of the swords’ spirits singing melodiously as if they’d been revived. The voice of the silver sword was gentle, elegant, and lullaby-like, while the voice of the dark purple sword was deep, foreboding, and chilling.

Despite their stark differences, though, they formed a harmonious and stimulating song that altered the surroundings. And as their wielder, the Faceless Blade became stronger as well.

Faceless Blade raised the silver sword and swung it towards Cedric, which he blocked just fine. However, its effects didn’t end there. It, in fact, began there, instead.

Cedric felt a force purifying his origin energy, which meant draining or melting it from him and possibly filtering it to the sword’s wielder. The drain was alarming, to be honest.

That was then followed by a slash from the dark purple blade. The void element felt like maggots eating him from the inside out.

With each swing of his sword, these effects stacked and became stronger, and there doesn’t seem to be a limit either. Even evading the attacks didn’t seem to negate the effects from affecting him, either.

All of this was elevated even further with the faceless one performing his sword art once more. The wave of swift, elegant, yet also very cunning and deadly sword swings seemingly formed a cage around Cedric that trapped him in a damning cycle of never-ending punishment. Blocking was useless, and so was evasion.

It’s truly a dangerous situation to be in...but that only applies to others. Cedric was no ordinary man, after all.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

If the Faceless Blade had a face, he’d probably be expressing his doubts through it by now. Actually, a face was unnecessary because his body language already shows it.

He could feel that his opponent was being affected by the elements of his sword. He also knew that he’s performing his sword art just fine; he hasn’t even made a mistake yet. His opponent was blocking his blows more than evading them, which all should translate into his swift doom due to the circumstances he’s forced into.

Yet for some reason, he doesn’t sense any hints of weakness from his opponent. He’s just as stable as he was before the fight began; it’s like none of the sanctions imposed upon him truly affected him at all.

And that’s strange since, up until now, nobody could just shrug off the effects of his twin swords. Not even the 1st place in the Immortal League Ranking could.

So what exactly was happening here?